


The Second Giver

by Anonymous



Category: The Giver (2014), The Giver Series - Lois Lowry
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Secret Crush, Slow Burn, i call this au 'the giver squared' au and you'll see why momentarily, same age au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-25 09:58:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18258980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Jonas, weighed down with memories his new Assignment has brought him and the guilt of hiding them away from the world, bumps into an old friend. That friend, a cheerful boy with light eyes named Gabriel, happens to be the only other person in his age group capable of handling the memories. For a moment, Jonas considers getting Gabe in on what the assignment of Receiver really means, considers telling him about color and other things that once were, but he knows he could never do it.Doing so would be against the rules.Jonas knows far better than to break the rules.





	The Second Giver

**Author's Note:**

> context behind why this exists: in late 2015/early 2016, I got HARDCORE obsessed with this book (an obsession that, in all honestly, has barely waned over the years), and my then-friends and I collectively went "Hey, what if Gabe was the same age as Jonas?? AU TIME!"  
> things developed from there. I think the thought process behind that remark was 'it would add more drama to the book if they were in the same age group and they BOTH had the capacity to be the receiver and Jonas got the spot or whatever blahblahblah', 3 straight days of brainstorming later and this idea came to fruition. it's sat in my brain gathering dust over the years but I think now I can finally rehash the idea so it's not completely weird and plot-hole-filled like it was way back then.
> 
> uhh anyway, hope the above makes sense! enjoy!

Jonas was alone.

So, so alone.

When the thought of his loneliness first crossed his mind, he'd stopped himself and tried to rationalize how he'd been feeling. 'Perhaps,' He wondered to himself, 'I'm not  _ alone _ , I'm just...just tired from today's training. Yeah, that's all. Maybe I should talk to Mother and Father about it. Then I'll feel better."

But he was not just tired, and no amount of talking with this 'parents' would resolve the issue. Jonas knew that now; he really  _ was _ lonely, even with the Giver by his side for training every day. The memories he was being given as part of his new assignment sat heavy inside him like the contents of a pressure cooker waiting to explode, and with every new memory he was given the pressure only increased. It was killing him inside, and try as he did to hide this from his new mentor, he could see the Giver knew. The fact that nothing could be done to ease Jonas’ pain only made it hurt all the worse.

However, that wasn’t to say he felt the pain of loneliness all the time. One afternoon, an afternoon on which Jonas had been given a memory of a long walk on a beach, the boy lay face-up in the Giver’s bed and stared up at the ceiling deep in thought. Usually, after being given a new memory, Giver would let his trainee process the new thoughts and feelings that came with it and then they discussed it together for a while. Usually, the discussions were normal enough, or at least as normal as they could be for a kid who’d never felt these emotions before. But today, things were going to pan out a little differently.

“Giver?” Jonas asked, thinking back to the memory. It was one of a long walk on a beach, hand-in-hand with a person he couldn’t see but rather felt.

“What is it, my boy?” The old man returned.

“Well…” The words sat on the tip of Jonas’ tongue but it took a bit of effort to get them to come out. “I was just wondering something.”

“Speak, then.” The Giver shifted in his rocking chair. “Remember, you may say whatever you’d like in here.”

The boy rolled over on the bed, laying on his stomach and propping his head up on one elbow. “Well, I was wondering about the memory you gave me just now of the beach and the walk on it.” He paused. “It was nice, especially that other person I was with, even though I couldn’t see who they were.”

“I see.” The Giver replied, “And what do you think felt nice about it, Jonas?”

Jonas mused over this for a moment. “The feeling of being next to someone,” he concluded, “And in such a nice place, too.” He brought forth the memory in his mind and replayed it, closing his eyes. In the memory, it was sunset, and the sky was dyed a menagerie of pinks and yellows and purples that reflected across the slow-rolling waves along the beach. Water lapped at Jonas’ bare ankles as he walked, the wet sand beneath his toes sinking with each step he took and chilling him in a most pleasurable way. His right hand was clasped into someone else’s, and their hand was warm. A word crossed Jonas’ conscious, but just as quickly as it came to mind, it was gone, leaving only a trace amount of the pleasurable feeling it brought with it. Jonas opened his eyes and refocused on the old man sitting across the room from him.

“There’s another feeling that came with the memory,” He added. “I don’t think you’ve ever transferred it to me before. It was…” The receiver searched in vain for the word he’d felt but couldn’t find it.

“Romantic love.” The Giver smiled and nodded. “Yes, yes, I know what you mean.”

“Oh. What is ‘romantic’?” Jonas asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Romance is...oh, how do I explain this.” The Giver sat back in thought for a while. “Back before Sameness, there were many different kinds of love. There was familial love, which is what parents and grand-parents and children are supposed to feel for each other. Then there was platonic love, like what you feel for your groupmates. But there was also another love called romantic love, one that spouses feel for one another. It’s like...like you enjoy somebody a lot more than the average person, and being with them makes you very, very happy inside. And you want to spend the rest of your life with them, and maybe get married and have children together. That’s what romantic love is.” The old man concluded and waited for Jonas to respond.

“Oh, I get it now.” Jonas knew what weddings were, and he understood spouses, but he never quite processed that there was a different kind of love associated with those things. “So...say I had in mind someone in particular I wanted to be my spouse, if I were to apply for one. Would that possibly mean I felt romantic love for them?”

The Giver pondered it. “Possibly. It depends on the situation, but chances are if you want someone as a lifelong partner then you may indeed be in love with them. Why? Do you have a special someone on your mind right now?” He asked, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“No, no!” Jonas laughed, slightly flustered. “I don’t think I’d want a spouse, actually.” He made a face. “Not when I’m the only one who’d be able to feel the romantic love anyway. Actually, when I put it like that it would be very weird for me to be assigned a spouse that...that wouldn’t love me back. You know what I mean?”

Giver nodded. “I do, Jonas, I do.”

“Still,” The boy continued, “Maybe if I really think about it, having a spouse wouldn’t be  _ so _ bad. There’s Fiona, for example. I’ve always enjoyed being around her, and I suppose I could see us raising kids together. She’s always been such a good friend to me.” He paused. “Does that mean I’m in love with her, Giver?”

The Giver shook his head. “No, not exactly. Romantic love is felt a bit deeper than that, Jonas.”

“Really?” The receiver flopped down on the bed, rolling back over to stare up at the ceiling. “Ugh, how confusing! I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to be a spouse for.”

“Yes, confusing indeed. That’s how feelings tend to be, Jonas; I figured you would have caught onto that by now.” The old man joked with a laugh. Jonas chuckled as well, pleased at the gentle be, and so the two sat quietly chuckling to themselves about this little joke shared between them, the existence of the thing called ‘love’.

  
  


* * *

 

  
  


“Jonas! Hey!”

Jonas had just left the Annex and started to go home when he heard a male voice call out to him. He looked up to see a male Twelve riding towards him on his bike. Jonas was surprised; it had been a while since he and someone in his age group had talked, much less seen one another, and now that he could see in full color the sight of other people amazed him. This boy--the name escaped him now, but he seemed familiar--was tall, limber and had a head of golden-brown hair. He hopped off his bike and rolled it to a stop. As the boy got closer, Jonas instantly recognized who he was from one tiny detail; he pale eyes. No, wait,  _ pale _ wasn’t the right word anymore. This male’s eyes were a striking sapphire color, much like Jonas’ own, and there was only one other male in the Community with blue eyes.

“Gabriel!” The receiver grinned. It had been at least a year since he and Gabe had last seen each other, though they used to be close as kids. They were, after all, the only two pale-eyed children in the Community for a very long time, and this little thing that made them different wound up being the reason they got together. They were friends up until they became Eights, at which point Jonas began to favor Asher and Fiona. Afterwards, they all just sort of drifted apart, and a part of Jonas thought his friends had begun to forget about him, but apparently he was wrong.

“You remembered me!” Gabe’s eyes lit up. “I apologize for not spending as much time with you.” His cheeks flushed pink and Jonas felt something in him soften. Gabe was so...so  _ pretty _ now that he could see in full color. He hoped his staring wasn’t too obvious. Gabriel was something of an outcast kid even for a community as tightly knit as theirs. He was always asking strange questions and doing strange things, and he never really had any friends besides Jonas. Somehow it didn’t surprise the new Receiver that Gabe would try to find him of all people.

“No, no, it’s alright. My new training has me on quite the tight schedule, you know?” Jonas laughed tersely, half-mounting his bicycle. “How are you? I haven’t seen you since the Ceremony of Twelve.” He’d seen Gabe, number thirty-six in their age group, receive the assignment of Engineer at their Ceremony. It was definitely an assignment Gabriel would be happy with, as he was full of energy the way Asher was. Unlike Jonas’ other friend, however, Gabe knew how to utilize his energy in his studies and loved to work on projects involving constructing and building.

“Oh, I’m doing just fine.” Gabe smiled again. “My assignment--I’m an engineer now, you know--is such fun!” He didn’t divulge any further details but Jonas could see from the look in his eyes that he was doing great where he was now. “What about you, Jonas, how’s your new training going? I’ll bet it’s quite hard; Chief Elder certainly made it sound like it would be!”

Jonas laughed again. “Yes, yes it is quite hard at times. But-” He paused, remembering the rule about discussing his training. “I’m, uh, not allowed to talk about it.”

Gabe’s eyes widened in curiosity, but all he said next was simply “Oh. Alright then.”

“Yeah…” Jonas shuffled awkwardly. Now that he thought about it, he was supposed to be on his way home, wasn’t he? “I can’t just stay and talk, Gabe. I apologize, but I have to be going straight to my dwelling now.”

The other boy’s face fell for a second. “Oh. Shall we walk and talk? I was actually--forgive me if this sounds odd, but I was actually looking forward to seeing you today, and Asher told me I might find you here, at the House of the Old.”

Jonas’ face lit up. Asher had remembered him after all! “Really now! That would be just fine, actually. When did you and Asher speak?” He asked, rolling his bike along at his hip as he and Gabriel began to walk away from the Annex.

“Well, I happened upon him on my way home from classes. I have to do even  _ more _ schooling now that I’m to be an engineer, you know. That’s the only part about this assignment I don’t like.” Gabe made a face and his companion laughed aloud. “And I said hello, and he said hello, and we started talking and he mentioned you never spend time with him and Fiona anymore. He sounded very concerned for your wellbeing, Jonas.” The boy said grimly, his expression turning serious, and he let his voice drop to a whisper. “You know... I know you aren’t allowed to discuss your training and all that, but Asher said something to me in regards to it that I think you should know.”

Jonas’ breath hitched and his grip on his bicycle handles tightened. “What is it?” He asked, hoping he wasn’t coming off as too afraid.

“Well…” Gabriel swallowed tensely. “It’s not that he doesn’t like you, Jonas, but I think...I think Asher’s grown weary of you. Fiona, too. There was something in our assignment paperworks that all of us got, and I think it was the one rule we all shared in common.” The light-haired boy paused. “We are supposed to yield to and answer any questions you, the new Receiver of Memory, ask of us without question. You could, for example, ask us anything you want and we would legally be obligated to give you an answer. Did you happen to know…” He trailed off and looked over at Jonas for a response of any sort.

The receiver’s heart thudded in his head. The question now was this; should he give Gabriel an honest answer, the way Jonas was absolutely dying to, or would he lie and say he had no idea what his friend was talking about? In an impulsive last-minute decision, Jonas decided to go with the first option.

“Yes,” He whispered back, “I did know I could ask anyone anything, and expect to receive a response. But I never thought that anyone else would know about that, much less it be something that  _ bothered _ them.”

Gabe sighed. “Well, apparently it was enough to make Asher think a bit less of you. He didn’t exactly say it outright, but I could just sort of tell, you know?”

Jonas felt like he’d been punched in the gut. He’d had his suspicions before, but now there was a confirmation; he and Asher were beginning to drift apart so much so that his friend didn’t even like him anymore.

“Oh.” The boy responded numbly, “I see.”

“Jonas, I am so, so sorry.” Gabe continued, sympathetically touching his friend’s arm. “If it’s any reassurance, I don’t think of you any less than I did the last time we met.”

“It is a bit of a relief to hear that,” His friend said, and that was true. Gabriel had always been a kind boy, if not a little socially awkward. Knowing at least one member of the community hadn’t totally turned his back on him yet brought Jonas some sense of comfort.

“I’m glad.” The other boy smiled and Jonas felt something odd in his chest, almost like his heart skipped over a beat. He stopped and clutched at his chest, prompting his companion to stop as well. “Oh, goodness, are you alright? Should I get you to a doctor?”

Jonas was about to open his mouth to say “Yes, please”, recalling from his health lessons as a 10 that chest pain was serious cause for alarm, but then he realized the sensation he’d felt had been brief and, in fact, not painful at all. It almost felt...nice?

“No, thank you, I’m fine. I think I just need to go home and get some rest is all.” The receiver straightened himself out and mounted his bike to ride the rest of the way back to his dwelling. “Thank you for accompanying me home today, Gabriel. It was nice to have someone to talk to.”

“Well, if you’re so sure.” Gabe smiled too and got on his own vehicle, pushing it very slightly with his foot to get it rolling. “See you later, Jonas!”

Jonas felt the sensation in his chest again, and stronger this time, but he kept silent about it. “Yeah, see you later.” He paused. “Gabriel?”

“Hm?” The boy paused, halting his bike and looking over his shoulder.

“Does it say anywhere in your assignment rules that you are allowed to lie?” The question came out of Jonas’ mouth rather sporadically, and for a moment he didn’t realize he’d said anything at all. Gabriel thought about it for a moment and shook his head.

“What a silly question. Of course I’m not allowed to lie, Jonas.” He smiled in amusement. “Nobody’s allowed to lie, in fact. That’s what my rules say. What makes you think I would be?”

Jonas swallowed. “Um, no reason.” He forced a casual smile. “Goodnight, Gabe.”

“Goodnight, Jonas.”

And with that, the boys went their separate ways.


End file.
